Barton was found guilty of posting harmful content about the plaintiff on social media.
Former England star Eni Aluko has been awarded more than £300,000 in damages and legal costs after successfully bringing a defamation claim against former footballer and coach Joey Barton.
The case was heard at the High Court in London, where it was confirmed that the proceedings had been stayed and Barton was ordered to pay substantial compensation, along with Aluko’s legal costs, following the dispute over posts made on X in 2024.
Lawyer Gervase de Wilde, who represents Aluko, told the court that Barton had wrongly accused the former England international attempt to exploit accusations of racism and intimidation.
De Wilde said that in two specific posts, Barton had falsely claimed that Aluko had “cynically sought to exploit her status as an alleged victim of racism and bullying”, while also describing her as a hypocrite.
Barton, who previously managed Fleetwood Town and Bristol Rovers, did not attend the hearing. The former Marseille player was arrested earlier in the week and is currently in custody following an assault charge relating to an incident near a golf course in Merseyside.
De Wilde said Barton had posted extensively about Aluko on his X account throughout 2024.
“Between January and August 2024, Mr Barton published 48 posts relating to Ms Aluko,” he told the court, describing the activity as “a deliberately targeted public smear campaign”.
One of the posts included an image in which Aluko’s head had been superimposed on the body of serial killer Rosemary West.
“The campaign amounted to an attack on multiple aspects of his life and personality,” De Wilde said.
“Mr Barton’s campaign caused Ms Aluko enormous distress. When she attempted to defend herself against Mr Barton’s conduct and that of his supporters, he criticized and attacked her for doing so.
“Ms Aluko was concerned that no matter how she tried to stop the harassment, Mr Barton would exploit and manipulate it to use against her.”
“Mr Barton has now accepted that his campaign against Ms Aluko amounted to harassment and that he should not have made the posts.”
A court order seen by the Press Association confirmed that Barton must pay £339,000 in damages and costs, with the first £100,000 plus interest due by March 24.
Barton has been given seven days to request the order be modified.
